RiverWay Guides

Welcome to RiverWay – the Quad Cities’ scenic stretch of the Mississippi River with almost 100 miles of area parks, trails and overlooks between the river bluffs. Enjoy America’s most famous river by walking or biking along its paved riverfront trails.

Experience the Mississippi River as it was first discovered, while paddling! The Quad Cities area is rich with water. Paddling conditions on the Mississippi and Rock Rivers are perfect for multi-day excursions with camping access, afternoon urban getaways, and getting in touch with nature for all levels of paddlers. The 45 miles of Quad Cities Water Trails also ties directly into 73 miles of recreational trails for exceptional cycling and hiking.

River Action's e-Tour brings new technology to the riverfront and creates opportunities to engage new audiences. QR Codes and web addresses have replaced the phone numbers from River Action’s Audio Tour.

How did Stubbs Eddy get his name?

Captain James R. Stubbs was one of Davenport’s early eccentrics. He lived in a cave close to an eddy in the river near the Lindsay Park Yacht Club. His peculiarities grew in notoriety until his cave home came to be called Stubbs Eddy.

Local saloons have been named after him and in the Village of East Davenport, Captain Stubbs is a much-loved legend. There was no stranger sight in the early days of Davenport than Captain Stubbs, strolling into town followed in single file by his pet pig, his cat, and his dog. Together, they lived in the cave like mound.

Stubbs, it was generally accepted, had attended West Point. Whether or not he graduated is hazy, but he was in the military and achieved the rank of captain. He was stationed at Fort Armstrong in the 1840's, developed a fondness for the Iowa shore, but returned east after his military career to Washington D.C.

He found a lover, who promised marriage but later spurned him. A despondent Stubbs returned to East Davenport penniless and built a cave dwelling of mounded earth. He lived and brooded in his cave for eight years.

In time, Captain Stubbs retreated from his cave, gave his pig to a farmer, and returned to civilization. He became a justice of the peace and worked as a surveyor, running out many early claims.

In much later years, the site of Stubbs' cave home became storage caverns for the cooling beer from a nearby brewery. Today, however, he would likely turn morose again to find his old cave home has been turned into a parking lot.